In the past, trailer hitches have been proposed, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,095 (Swindall), U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,095 (Duncan) , U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,176 (Eppinette) , U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,525 (Landry), U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,153 (Galdes) , U.S. Pat. No. 4,398,742 (Sanders) , U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,676 (Wallbank), U.S. Pat. No. 2,582,595 (Leveke), and G.B. 1 600 035 (Kidd).
The patent to Swindall discloses a trailer hitch having a base plate bolted to a truck bumper and rotatably receiving a housing and a slide bar with a ball bolted thereto. The housing is secured to the base plate and the bumper through a bolt. The slide bar is slidably secured to the housing through a locking pin. The tubular housing has a mounting bore therethrough, a guide slot in its upper wall and an aperture in its lower wall. A trunnion extends through the mounting hole and facilitates arcuate movement of the tubular housing. A telescoping arm is retained within the tubular housing and includes an aperture for alignment with the aperture in the lower wall of the tubular housing. A releasable locking pin is provided for latching the tubular housing when aligned and when the draw bar is retracted along the semi-circular periphery of the base plate.
The patent to Eppinette discloses an adjustable trailer coupling which includes a towing bar arm which is rotatably secured to a hitch. The hitch includes a hitch collar welded thereto and a pivot arm passing through the hitch collar. The pivot arm is rotatably secured to the end of the telescoping arm through a pivot pin. A locking collar is provided to prevent rotation of the arm. Locking means is provided for selectively locking and unlocking the telescopic arm with respect to the towing bar. An articulating arm is provided having one end connected to the trailer hitch and the other end pivotally connected to the telescopic arm. The pivotally connected end of the articulating arm has a locking pin receiving hole which aligns with a locking pin receiving hole of the telescopic arm. An anti-pivot collar is selectively positioned with respect to the pivot point to either encircle or not encircle the pivot point to permit or restrain pivotal movement between the articulating arm and the telescopic arm. Means is also provided for positioning the anti-pivot collar with respect to the pivot point for selectively positioning the anti-pivot collar.
The patent to Landry discloses a self-locking trailer hitch having a frame which receives a housing that is pivotally coupled to a swing bar. The housing is integrally formed with a pin protruding upward therefrom. The pin confines the swing bar for rotation about the pin's vertical axis for horizontal swing movement. The amount of swing is limited by an abutment. A pin is provided to release the swing bar from the housing and provide for lateral rotation thereof. The housing, frame and swing bar each have apertures disposed in alignment when the swing bar is centered on the housing and the housing is in an extended position. The locking pin is mounted on the swing bar for extension through these apertures when they are aligned to lock the hitch in a towing position.
The patent to Galdes discloses a trailer hitch which is inserted within a housing. The hitch bar is provided with a front segment and a rear segment pivotally connected to one another for rotation about a vertical axis along a pivot shaft. The front segment is slidably received within the housing. A locking pin is provided to lock the hitch bar to the housing when the hitch bar is in a first position. When in use, the shaft is removed and the bolts are pulled outward so that the inner end position of the bolts are released from the recesses in the rear end of the front segment. Thereafter, the hitch is moved rearwardly until the rear segment can be pivoted about the vertical axis of the shaft. Once the ball is connected to the rear segment, the hitch bar is moved inwardly of the housing until the bolts reengage the hitch bar. Then, the locking pin is inserted to further lock the hitch bar of the housing.
The patent to Kidd discloses an extendable drawbar having two parts, the first of which is tubular and fixed to the vehicle. The second part includes top and bottom flat limbs which are pivotally mounted to the top and bottom surfaces of the first part. The top and bottom limbs include elongated slots with a fixed pivot pin passing through the slots and through a corresponding hole in the first part.
However, these conventional systems have met with limited success as they are overly complex and require excessive manufacturing steps and/or complex operation to adjust the trailer. Also, the conventional hitches provide limited strength, and thus, typically represent a weak point within the trailer hitch.
A need remains in the industry for an improved swing away hitch. The object of the present invention is to meet this need.